Skyrim Special Edition: 8 Best Modpacks On Wabbajack

Highlights

• Wabbajack makes modding easier for experienced modders and newcomers, streamlining the process with curated lists and stability assurance.
• Fable Lore provides a refreshing Skyrim experience where gameplay isn’t solely based on character leveling, promoting challenge and realism.
• The Phoenix Flavour offers a visually enhanced and gameplay-focused modlist with performance options, catering to a vanilla-plus experience.

Skyrim modding has been around since the game was first released back in 2011. The modding community experienced a renaissance back in 2016 when Skyrim Special Edition was released. This newer version of Skyrim is capable of supporting more mods than the Legendary Edition and is more compatible with modern PC hardware.

Because of this update in performance and stability, the community has been able to create massive modlists using a wonderful little program called Wabbajack. Wabbajack is an automated modlist installer that can be downloaded onto a user’s PC. This program allows its users to both create and download modlists for a number of games. For the best experience, it is recommended that users get a Nexusmods premium account to make the downloading of mods less time-consuming.

Updated May 15, 2024, by Hamza Haq: Wabbajack is an all-in-one solution for both experience modders and complete beginners looking to get into the modding scene. Before Wabbajack, players who wanted to experience what it’s like to play an Ultra-modded game with 3000+ mods had to spend days upon weeks sifting through mods, checking compatibility, and troubleshooting load order issues.

With Wabbajack, that’s no longer necessary. Players can browse curated lists by experienced mod authors who’ve meticulously gone through the compatibility issues with a fine tooth comb to give players as stable of an experience as possible. While this does mean there is less leeway for experimentation with shiny new mods, it also means that players will spend less time modding and more time actually playing the games.

8 Fable Lore

• Key Features: Low-end PC friendly, Deleveled enemies and encounters, ENB-free, heavily focused on Survival and immersion.

For players looking to get started with a Wabbajack modlist without needing to sacrifice half their SSD, Fable Lore serves as an excellent entry point. It’s a lightweight, easy-to-setup alternative Skyrim experience that doesn’t have too many requirements before being set up.

The core premise of Fable Lore is simple: the entire world doesn’t revolve around the player, and the gameplay should reflect that. Enemies are no longer scaled down or up to the character level. This means that if a fresh-off-the-cart Warrior tries to challenge a Lich to a fistfight, they will lose, no ifs, ands, or buts about it. In the same way, when a seasoned adventurer who has brought down Giants and defeated Dragons swings his mace at a Wolf, there is no world where the Wolf should be able to retaliate. That is what Fable Lore is all about.

7 Do Not Go Gentle

• Key Features: Incredible visuals with a neutral tone, built on a Requiem base but with combat mods, includes large-scale quest mods.

Most Requiem-centric lists tend to either forgo visuals entirely or favor a gritty, dark, unforgiving, low-fantasy world look. But Do Not Go Gentle is a balance between the two extremes. Offering a compromise between the intrinsic harshness Requiem promises while still integrating incredible visuals that even mid-tier PCs can handle.

The Author has also added some combat mods with new animations to bring a modern combat experience to Skyrim while still being compatible with Requiem; not an easy ask. Combined with large-scale quest mods like Vigilant, it offers content to explore outside of the Nordic snows of Skyrim for players who are tired of visiting Whiterun for the six hundredth time.

6 The Phoenix Flavour

• Key Features: Improvements to all aspects of the game while keeping the core concepts of Skyrim alive, lots of visual changes, serves as an excellent base to experiment with personal preferences.

The Phoenix Flavour is a visual and gameplay-focused modlist that features over 700 mods. The modlist’s main focus is on being a coherent and stable experience. The Phoenix Flavour is one of the more demanding lists on Wabbajack, luckily it has some performance options for those who have weaker PCs.

This modlist also includes some combat-enhancement mods like Blade and Blunt and Dragon War – Reduced Difficulty. The list also has ultra wide-screen support, allowing Skyrim to be enjoyed in crisp 4K. This list is a great choice for players who are looking for a vanilla-plus experience.

5 Aldrnari

• Key Features: Complete skill tree overhaul, New quest mods, converts Skyrim into a Gothic fantasy RPG, custom animation mods to make combat more fluid. Custom sound effects and a completely new soundtrack inspired by Celtic music.

Aldrnari is a single author’s vision of what Skyrim should be. The author’s main inspiration for this list came from listening to Yggdrasil Music and SoundFX Overhaul. This music and sound overhaul adds 12 hours of Nordic music and sound effects to Skyrim.

The list takes heavy inspiration from the Dark Souls video game series through its changes to the game’s combat and gameplay mechanics. Aldrnari is designed to be challenging and rewarding with an end goal of seeing the player character become the overpowered Dragonborn they were always destined to be.

4 Path Of The Dovahkiin

• Key Features: Overhauled perk trees, converts Skyrim into an ARPG, a large focus on combat both by changing how it feels and by adding enemy variety.

Path of the Dovahkiin strives to bring the ultimate ARPG experience to Skyrim. The list takes inspiration from classic RPGs like Diablo 2, Path of Exile, and Last Epoch. Path of the Dovahkiin achieves this by having large perk trees, increased enemy variety, repeatable dungeons, and plenty of new weapons and armor.

The list is also focused on replayability through near-endless character-building theory crafting. Everything included in this list is centered around making the player character a powerful, enemy-slaying, gold-collecting, loot-hoarding machine. This list is perfect for those looking for a fun ARPG power fantasy experience.

3 Lost Legacy

• Key Features: Legacy of the Dragonborn integration, QWEST successor, a focus on Power fantasy instead of immersion, overhauled graphics with a focus on giving the game a touch of high fantasy vibes.

The Lost Legacy modlist is the successor to the very popular QWEST modlist. This list is compatible with both Anniversary Edition and Special Edition. The list is focused on being a full-on power fantasy modlist. It accomplishes this through its inclusion of Vokriinator and the EnaiRim mod package.

Lost Legacy also includes plenty of quest mods and 5000+ Legacy of the Dragonborn museum displays, so there are plenty of new things to see and do. The list also includes some optional survival mode mods and mechanics as well as performance options.

2 Living Skyrim

• Key Features: Enhanced visuals, more NPCs, more quests, and an overall more interactive Skyrim experience. Perk tree Overhaul.

Living Skyrim is about breathing life back into Skyrim. The inspiration for this modlist comes from the author’s experience of playing vanilla Skyrim and finding that he/she had nothing to do, nowhere to go, and no one to talk to at many moments in their playthrough. The author seeks to correct this by adding new NPCs, quests, dungeons, followers, and more.

That goal on its own would be enough to make this list a fan favorite, but the author has gone the extra mile in adding other additions like gameplay enhancements, extra combat mechanics, larger perk trees, new spells, and enhanced visuals. This list is an excellent choice for players looking for a slower-paced playthrough.

1 Wildlander

• Key Features: Requiem Overhaul to serve as a base. Survival-focused mechanics like food and drink management, weather effects, and more. Hardcore gameplay-focused with a heavy focus on optimization. Integrates Noxcrab’s tweaks.

Wildlander is a massive modlist centered around the ever-popular Requiem overhaul. Requiem is a massive overhaul that touches practically every aspect of Skyrim‘s mechanics in some way, shape, or form, with the intention of transforming Skyrim into the true RPG experience it could have been.

Wildlander expands upon this Requiem with added visuals, quests, NPCs, locations, and mechanics. The modlist utilizes survival mechanics and is considered a hardcore experience, although, there are options available to make the modlist easier for players looking for a more casual experience. This is one of the most ambitious modlist on Wabbajack, featuring an entire roadmap for planned features and updates.